LG C2 OLED evo TV review – Evolution in action

The LG C2 OLED evo is the successor to the hugely popular C1 OLED that launched in January last year. The C1 impressed both critics and consumers with a gorgeous OLED display producing an immersive image and black levels so deep you might fall in while displaying impressive gaming chops. All for a rather competitive price.

Unsurprisingly, the South Korean conglomerate has managed to build on the success of the C1 with its OLED offerings this year. It might not be the company’s flagship set – that would be the G2 – but we’d still argue the C2 sits in the sweet spot of providing fantastic picture quality and a great feature set without hurting your wallet.

If it ain’t broke, it don’t need fixin’

Few things have changed externally on the 48in C2 model that we received for review. Most will struggle to tell the difference between a 48in C1 and a 48in C2 at first glance. The larger models in the range underwent a few design changes but those are curiously absent here.

LG has stuck with the same near-borderless design for the display and, if you aren’t wall-mounting, the stand for the smaller models is the same as last year’s. No complaints there.

The build quality is excellent. LG doesn’t cheap out on the plastics it uses. The materials provide a suitably premium feel, there’s almost no flex in the back panel, and the handsome brushed metal bar spanning the front and large plastic base in the rear provide good stability.

The C2 is available in a range of sizes, from the newly added 42in model up to an intimidating 83in. Unfortunately, only the 48in and 83in C2 OLED evo will be available to South Africans.

Something to keep in mind if you opt for the smaller 48in model and don’t stick yours on a wall; the stand doesn’t raise the set very high. There’s a good chance a soundbar will block some of your view if placed in front. It’s not a dealbreaker, mount it on the wall or put the soundbar somewhere else.

A feast for the eyes

Onto the main event – the picture quality. It is, in a word, superb. Colour reproduction is rich and vibrant. You might find better colour volume on a brighter TV (like the G2 with its dedicated heat sink), but you definitely won’t feel cheated if you buy the C2.

Speaking of brightness, the C2 uses LG Electronics’ new(ish) evo technology. This is a combination of panel technology and processing. It allows for a brightness increase of up to 20% over non-evo models, according to LG. The difference is noticeable. OLED panels allow for an effectively infinite contrast ratio – the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of a scene – resulting in near-perfect black levels. LG’s new Alpha 9 Gen 5 AI processor improves on this with better dynamic tone mapping as well.

That’s a fancy name for an algorithm that analyses segments of the screen in real time and boosts brightness where necessary. This adds some punch to highlights and details in shadowy areas where needed. And thanks to OLED’s self-lit pixels, there is no blooming or haloing around bright objects (like subtitles) in dark scenes as you’d find on an LED-backlit TV.

[Everyone liked that]

The C2 continues where the C1 left off by providing gamers with all the bells and whistles. There are four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports around back meaning ample 4K@120fps capabilities. The C2 also supports all three of the variable refresh rate standards – VRR, AMD Freesync Premium Pro, and Nvidia G-Sync.

There is even support for auto low-latency mode (ALLM) which is enabled by default in gaming mode. This switches off some TV features your console is already handling and lowers input lag. Input lag is already pretty low on the C2 and we didn’t notice any in our time with it.

Another inherent strength of OLEDs is the almost-instant pixel response time. You’ll notice this in fast-paced titles or games where you need to do a lot of camera panning. There is almost no motion blur trail around fast-moving objects but, due to how OLEDs display an image, you do still get some persistence blur. The superb picture quality, blazing response times, and robust set of features put this in the running for the best gaming TV on the market right now.

While unpacking the C2, we noted the downward-firing speakers along the bottom and didn’t expect too much from them. Generally, the sound profile lacks detail in the highs and punch in the lows. You can play around with the sound presets to give you more leeway in either direction but don’t expect too much to change. Additionally, there is a perceptible rattle when faced with loud bass, at least on our set.

The stand of the 48in C2 deflects the sound toward the viewer so this could change slightly if you opt to stick it on a wall. As with most TVs, you’ll still want at least a soundbar to properly enjoy your content sonically but the C2’s speakers will suffice until you can get one.

Senator, we run ads

LG’s webOS is still one of the better interfaces out there but we don’t feel it’s trending in the right direction. The amount of things to look at is overwhelming. Sure, a wide choice is great but we don’t think the execution works here. The home dashboard is cluttered and not as customizable as we’d like.

Apart from the ads that populate the entire first row of the home screen based on what’s ‘trending’, there are also dedicated rows for suggested streaming content and LG’s sports alert, content hub, and web browser. You can shuffle the order of them but you can’t remove them entirely. That’s a pity because why would you ever subject yourself to a TV’s web browser?

All the major streaming platforms are present and accounted for. If you don’t immediately find the one you’re after, it’s more than likely available to download from the app catalogue.

Navigating around the C2 feels smooth and responsive thanks to the capable processor. Whether you’re trying to find the app you last used, flicking through Netflix looking for something to binge, or using the smart home features through LG’s Home Dashboard app.

In this updated webOS you’re able to set up different user profiles, which might sound cool, at first. If every family member has their own menu layout then you won’t always have to scroll to find what you use most. Unfortunately, it also requires that each member have their own LG account and then it doesn’t even offer that much customization. But it’s a good start. With a bit of work, it could become actually useful.

The C2 ships with LG’s Magic Motion Remote (the same model from last year) which is starting to feel a little long in the tooth. This new version comes with built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support as well as a new feature called NFC magic tap. This will allow you to quickly mirror your smartphone to the screen. If that’s something you do often then bully for you. But we feel it’s time LG included a rechargeable battery with a USB-C port. Surely that’s not too much to ask?

LG C2 OLED evo verdict

The LG C2 continues the company’s tradition of impressing with the amount of value on offer in the C-Series. It might not be the brightest OLED TV available or the fastest or have the best picture quality. But everything it does, it does well enough to make up for the middling software experience and slightly above-average sound quality.

If you’ll be gaming on your TV and have some control over how bright your TV room gets, the LG C2 belongs on your shortlist. You’ll struggle to find another set that offers this much for the same cash. Unless you’ve already bought a C1 on special. At the time of writing, it’s priced roughly R2,000 less than the C2, depending on where you look. If you can stretch the budget a little to R22,000 for the C2, you won’t be sorry. Otherwise, the C1 remains a safe bet.